Monthly Archives: June 2012

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Mega-Corruption and the Farouk Lawan Saga Abuja, 18th June 2012

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N-Katalyst
Mega-Corruption and the Farouk Lawan Saga
Abuja, 14th June 2012

Introduction

Following the release of the report of the ad hoc House Committee on the Fuel Subsidy, N-Katalyst, a non partisan network of individuals with a deep commitment to the promotion of Nigerian unity and progressive change, organized a National Symposium in Abuja on 30 April 2012 to address the issues. We subsequently published a Charter of Demands drawing attention to significant findings on mega corruption in the fuel subsidy regime.

N-Katalyst believes that the recent revelations on the Farouk Lawan Saga must not push us into throwing away the baby with the bath water. Nigeria must ensure that the core recommendations emanating from the report are implemented. If there are suspicions that the Chair and some members of the Committee have been compromised into deleting some of the guilty companies, the same principles of investigating and punishing the guilty should be followed. As we understand the chronology, on 18th April when the report was presented, Otedola’s companies, Zenon and Synopsis were indicted. Subsequently, the following bribes were alleged to have been paid to Mr Lawan – April 21st $250,000, April 23rd $250,000 and early morning of April 24th $100,000. Later on the morning of April 24th during the House Plenary Discussion on Subsidy Report, Zenon and Synopsis were delisted.

Subsequently, Lawan had communications with the Chairman of the House Committee on Financial Crimes and the Inspector General of Police, claiming that Otedola was persisting in offering him bribes to influence the outcome of the investigation. Given the allegations, the Farouk Lawan saga should be investigated immediately and if evidence is found, those implicated should be prosecuted.

N-Katalyst believes that there is no democracy without a legitimate legislature that has integrity. Our Parliaments need to develop their capacity to carry out their legitimate functions. The military were always suspicious of the legitimacy of Parliament. In nearly fifty-two years of independence, we have had just over twenty-four years of Parliament. So, our Parliament still has some growing to do. It is therefore important to start a campaign on the ethics required of a legislator and we shall shortly publish our views on this. Meanwhile, we should remain focused on implementation of the report recommendations.

The Committee had reported that, contrary to earlier figures from various official sources, subsidy payment of N2.59 trillion had been made by 31st December, 2011, an amount “more than 900 percent over the appropriated sum of N245 billion.” In addition, there are “outstanding claims by NNPC and the marketers in excess of N270 billion as subsidy payments for 2011.” The Committee, in its Report, established that “NNPC was found not to be accountable to anybody or authority”. Based on these findings, we made the following demands:

1) Ending Impunity for the Fuel Subsidy Cabal

Mega corruption is destroying Nigeria and we must act to stop the rot:

i. All persons and institutions proven to have been indicted in the fuel subsidy scam should be punished. These include, but are not limited to, the Ministers of Petroleum Resources and Finance; the Board Members, MD and Management of NNPC; the Board Members and Executive Secretary of PPPRA; the Director of DPR and all public officials indicted in the Report by the House of Reps ad hoc Committee.

ii. The freezing of the accounts and recovery of all illegal payments made to the Petroleum marketing firms, the NNPC, PPPRA and others which, according to the House Committee, amount to N1.2 trn or $6.8bn.

iii. The removal from office of the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, to allow for effective investigation into the affairs of the Ministry.

2) Getting the Judiciary to do its Work

All levels of the judiciary are in crisis due to the appointment of successive Attorney Generals who see themselves as the President’s representative rather than an independent and impartial officer of the State determined to advance the cause of justice. We demand:

i. The immediate termination of the appointment of the Attorney General, Mohammed Adoke, SAN and the appointment of a credible Attorney General who has the skills and the will to combat and prosecute corruption.

ii. Announcing a time frame, not exceeding six months, for implementing the recommendations of the Farouk Lawan Committee report and commencing the prosecution of all indicted officials and all persons who benefitted, colluded or participated in the corruption scandal.

3) Restructuring of the Petroleum Sector

The structural conditions which allowed for the monumental fraud highlight NNPC’s role as the regulator, main producer and marketer of petroleum and its products, both upstream and downstream. It is a clear conflict of interests that allowed the organization to become a behemoth with no respect for laws and processes. We demand:

I. A Judicial Commission of Inquiry should be established into the operations of the Petroleum Ministry and NNPC.

ii. The management and the board of NNPC should be overhauled and those involved in any infractions should be investigated and prosecuted. The company should be unbundled to make it more transparent and efficient.

iii. NNPC, through local refining, swap arrangements and offshore processing should be able to provide enough fuel for Nigeria. Therefore the government has no reason to grant subsidy import licenses to other companies.

4) Providing Fuel at Reasonable Prices

N-Katalyst accepts the Committee’s estimate that the probable daily consumption of Petrol from the record of marketers and NNPC comes to an average of 31.5 million litres. It, therefore, proposes the continuation of subsidy for Petrol and Kerosene, and suggests a budget of N806.766 billion for the 2012 fiscal year. The Committee asserted that the 445,000 bpd allocation to NNPC is sufficient to provide the Nation with its needs in petrol and kerosene, with proper management and efficiency.

i. Kerosene subsidy should resume as a means of helping the poor and aiding the struggle against deforestation in the search for fuel wood.

ii. Private investors who were issued licenses for the construction of new refineries must be made to use these licenses or have their licenses withdrawn and issued to serious investors who are ready to build new refineries over the next three years, to guarantee sufficient local supply of petroleum products.

5) Citizen Engagement

N-Katalyst is aware that Government will not act if citizens do not mount sufficient pressure. We Nigerians must act more as citizens and not subjects. The country belongs to us all and we can no longer leave the political space to politicians, bureaucrats, common thieves and crooks. Nigerians must stand up and fight until we bring this monster under control.

i. Pressure should be mounted on Government to engage the participation of citizens in the formulation of a plan of action towards ending impunity and corruption in our national life, including the possibility of making corruption a capital offense.

ii. N-Katalyst commits to working with other civil society groups to ensure that these demands are met.

Dr Jibrin Ibrahim

Dr Otive Igbuzor
Saudatu Mahdi

Bilkisu Yusuf
Ayisha Osori

Prof Ebere Onwudiwe
Yemi Candide-Johnson

Ayo Obe
Saka Azimazi

Maryam Uwais
Bashir Yusuf Ibrahim

Innocent Chukwuma
Chris Kwaja

Hassan Hussaini
Dr A. S. Mohammed

Nsongurua Udombana
Asma’u Joda

Nsirimovu Anyakwee
Dr Kabir az Zubair

Martin Obono
Dr Hussaini Abdu

Aisha Oyebode
Hubert Shaiyen

Dr Arabo Ibrahim Bayo
Dr Ayesha Imam

Dr Charmaine Pereira
Yusufu Pam

John St. Claret Ezeani
Nasir el-Rufai

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A LETTER TO MR PRESIDENT, FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA

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N-Katalyst
16 A7 Street
CITEC Mbora Estate
Jabi/Airport Road Bypass
Email: nkatalyst33@yahoo.com
June 6, 2012

DR. GOODLUCK EBELE JONATHAN, GCFR
THE PRESIDENT, FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA
State House
Aso Rock
ABUJA.

Your Excellency Sir,

REQUEST FOR A PUBLIC INQUIRY INTO THE DANA AIR CRASH

We the undersigned representatives of N-Katalyst, a non-partisan network of individuals from diverse sectors committed to the promotion of Nigerian unity and progressive change, hereby request the establishment of a publicly accessible and representative inquiry into the Dana Air crash of June 3, 2012.

Background and Purpose

The aircraft, a McDonnell Douglas 83 (MD83) with Registration Number 5N-RAM and 153 people on board departed Abuja for Lagos in the afternoon of June 3 but crashed five minutes to landing at Iju-Ishaga, a densely populated neighbourhood in Agege Local Government Area of Lagos. All the 153 passengers on board were reportedly killed as well as unverified number of persons on ground. The fallen aircraft destroyed several buildings and rendered a good number of others uninhabitable by the force of the impact on earth surface. Environmental experts have also reported possible emission of radioactive materials in the neighbourhood.

Available information from insider sources and passengers who have flown in the aircraft before the incident suggests that it ought not to have been in service on that day and in fact should have been retired on account of incessant engine faults if the oversight agencies as well as the airline had been steadfast with maintaining aviation safety standards, although the Dana Air disputes these claims.
Therefore, an open and accessible public Inquiry will help in ascertaining what really caused the crash and resultant deaths and destruction of property by investigating the immediate and remote causes and bringing to justice any persons or corporates found culpable.

Chronology of major Air Crashes in Nigeria

Nigeria has experienced one too many crashes resulting to mass deaths in the last twenty years and all the aircrafts involved were registered and operated in the country, which calls into question how serious we take aviation safety and security:

1. September 26, 1992 – A Nigerian Air Force C-130 crashed minutes after taking off from Lagos airport. Around 200 people died.

2. June 25, 1995 – A Harka Airlines Soviet-era Tupolev Tu-134 crashed at Lagos airport, killing 15 people.

3. November 13, 1995 – A Nigeria Airways Boeing 737 crashed on landing in Kaduna, killing nine people.

4. November 7, 1996 – A Boeing 727 operated by Nigeria’s ADC Airlines crashed on its way from Port Harcourt to Lagos. All 142 passengers and nine crew died.

5. May 4, 2002 – A Nigerian EAS Airlines BAC 1-11 crashed in Kano. At least 148 people were killed, 75 on the plane and at least 73 on the ground.

6. October 22, 2005 – A Nigerian Bellview Airlines Boeing 737 airliner crashed shortly after take-off from Lagos. All 111 passengers and six crew were killed.

7. December 10, 2005 – A Nigerian Sosoliso Airlines DC9 from Abuja crashed on landing in Port Harcourt, killing 106 people, half of them schoolchildren on their way home for Christmas.

8. September 17, 2006 – Twelve Nigerian military personnel, mostly high-ranking officers, were killed in a plane crash in Benue state. Six survived.

9. October 29, 2006 – An ADC airliner with 114 passengers on board crashed and burned after take-off from Abuja, killing 96 people.

10. June 3, 2012 – A Dana Air passenger plane carrying 153 people crashed in the Agege suburb of Lagos, killing everyone on board and an unconfirmed number on ground.

It is disheartening to note that the standard response of the Government of Nigeria (GON) to all these aforementioned crashes was to set up secretive technical investigation panels whose reports were apparently neither made public nor acted upon. In a way, these technical panels became a tunnel through which successive governments ran away from their responsibility of making Nigerian airspace safe and secure for all stakeholders.

Your government is in a historic position to break this vicious cycle of public deceit if it heeds our request to convene a public inquiry into the crash.

Possible Terms of Reference

The Panel should among other things look into the following as part of its Terms of Reference (ToR):

a. Investigate and determine the cause of the crash and examine contributory factors;

b. Inquire into the roles played by the regulatory bodies and other organisations responsible for airspace management in Nigeria, prior to the accident;

c. Examine what regulatory guidelines, instructions and orders were applicable and whether they were complied with;

d. Determine the state of serviceability of the aircraft and relevant equipment;

e. Establish the level of training, relevant competences and qualifications of the crew members involved in the crash;

f. Ascertain if search and rescue facilities were fully available, utilized and functioned correctly;

g. Ascertain the number of people on ground that lost their lives and value of property destroyed at the site of the crash.

h. Assess any health and safety at work and environmental protection implications to the residents of the area in which the crash occurred.

i. Determine and comment on any broader contributory factors or causes including, management, oversight, maintenance culture and resources.

j. Make appropriate recommendations.

We request that the membership of the panel should be broadly representative including members of non-governmental human rights organizations and Nigerian Bar Association (NBA). This is to ensure transparency and accountability.
We look forward to a favourable and timely response to our request in order to take advantage of the mood of the moment; provide some assurance to the bereaved that the death of their loved ones will not go in vain; prevent avoidable air mishaps in future and more importantly ensure that the Nigerian airspace is not only safe but complies with international aviation safety standards.

We thank you for your kind consideration and attention to our request.

Long Live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Yours faithfully,

Dr Jibrin Ibrahim Dr Otive Igbuzor
Saudatu Mahdi Bilkisu Yusuf
Ayisha Osori Prof Ebere Onwudiwe
Yemi Candide-Johnson Ayo Obe
Saka Azimazi Maryam Uwais
Bashir Yusuf Ibrahim Innocent Chukwuma
Chris Kwaja Hassan Hussaini
Dr A. S. Mohammed Nsongurua Udombana
Asma’u Joda Nsirimovu Anyakwee
Dr Kabir az Zubair Martin Obono
Dr Hussaini Abdu Aisha Oyebode
Hubert Shaiyen Dr Arabo Ibrahim Bayo
Fatima Wali-Abdurrahman Dr Charmaine Pereira
Yusufu Pam

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Cuban President sends message of condolence by aviation accident in Nigeria

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Cuban President sends message of condolence by aviation accident in Nigeria

Nigeria, June 7, 2012.- President of the Councils of State and of Minister of the Republic of Cuba, Raúl Castro Ruz, sent a message of condolence to the Nigerian President, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, following the plane crash occurred on June 3 in Lagos, in which no less than 153 people died. The message goes to the families of the victims, too. (Cubaminrex-Embacuba Nigeria)

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A CASE FOR HERBAL REMEDIES By Ogonnaya Dibia and Sharon Akuboh

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It will amount to rhetoric if one asks again whyAfricans are persistent in
refusing theirs’ while, simultaneously, acceptingothers’ even if what they
are accepting is, to the discerning minds,substandard to their own. Though
thisunfortunate trait has become an African attribute, it seems more
pronounced inNigeria than anywhere else.

A case in mind is the sudden emergence orproliferation of Asian and Middle
Eastern Herbal Remedies in our Country andthe unprecedented governmental
approval these ‘remedies’ are attracting evenwhen the potency they confer
on themselves has hardly been verified. That thisis happening while the
Nigerian landscape is awash with Roots and Herbs as wellas Nigerians who
know these natural endowments and the use to which they can beput is, to
say the least, unpatriotic.What makes the situation even more perplexing is
that some Nigerians who havetaken it upon themselves to research into the
use to which some of the Rootsand Herbs that we take for granted can be put
are getting foreign recognitionwhile the relevant Nigerian regulators are
looking the other way.

The case of Halamin Herbal Products comes tomind here. The Abuja-based
Herbal Home, run by Mr. Ben Amodu, has been adjudgedto be a foremost centre
in the search for cure against several ailments anddiseases including some
of those which orthodox medicine considers asincurable. That Halamin range
of products, after undergoing all manner ofrigorous and mandatory tests
have gotten the blessing of NAFDAC and the highlyrespected NIPRD still does
not have the support of Nigeria’s Federal HealthMinistry is a cause for
marvel. But, if you think the marvelous angle ofNigeria’s penchant for
refusing to uplift her own ends here, you will be leftto ponder when you
are informed that HalaminProducts seem to be more in the good books of
international bodies like the UNand WHO than it is with Nigerian
authorities.

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Press statement by President David Eka Jnr on behalf of JCI Nigeria on the Passenger Plane Crash in Lagos June 4, 2012

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JCI Nigeria joins our fellow countrymen to mourn the tragic plane crash. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family, the loved ones of those killed in this tragic plane crash, and the entire community where the plane crashed.

The loss on Sunday 3rd June, 2012 is devastating to us all.

On behalf of the entire members of Junior chamber International Nigeria; I extend my deepest condolences to the families and friends of all who died in Sunday’s tragic crash of Dana airline 5N-RAM at Iju, a suburb of Lagos metropolis. Our thoughts and heartfelt prayers go out to all of those touched by this horrible accident.

We are grieved that we could loss over 150 persons in just one incident in our Nation.

Junior chamber International Nigeria, stand with the bereaved families and the affected community in this moment of tragedy. We extend messages of condolence from JCI 2012 World President Bertolt Daems and all JCI members around the world who have been sending messages of condolence since this tragedy occurred.

We pray that God Almighty grant the families of the victims of the plane crash the courage and fortitude to bear their irreparable loss.
JCI Nigeria calls on the civil aviation authorities and the federal government of Nigeria to take air transport safety to the level obtainable in other developed countries of the world.

Once again, our thoughts and prayers are with all the bereaved.

…scene of plane crash in Lagos


God bless you all.

—
David Eka Jnr
2012 National President
Junior Chamber International Nigeria.
+2348023122660
http://www.jci.cc

Presidential Theme:Reviving our Heritage;securing the Future.